Undecided

I've pretty much made up my mind about everything for the basement room being built.  I've finalized colours, fixtures, flooring and layout.  What I can't decide about is what to do under the stairs.

I've tried very hard to plan this room (and eventually the entire basement) with storage in mind.  You can't ever have too much storage space.

I've always known that the space under the stairs would be used as a place to store things, but I don't want them to look like angled, under the stair cupboards.  The stairs are closed off on both sides (ie with walls, not railings) so the wall on the other side of the stairs goes from floor to ceiling in the basement.  Any access to the space under the stairs needs to be from the room I'm building, because future plans will have that area blocked off in all other directions.

Options that I've considered for under the stairs are a built in dog nook like this:

I don't know if the dogs would like it, though, since they won't have a whole lot of visibility.  And, as much as I like the gate/door, it seems like it'd get in the way.  (My dogs aren't generally crated, once they grow up and earn free roam of the house.)  Without the gate, this would just be a hole in the wall... without the lights.

More importantly, I want storage cupboards.  Lots of cupboards... except those would be pretty darned deep cupboards (48") and things might get lost in the back.  

I love these, but I'll already have  a 20' wall of bookshelves.  I don't really want to give up any more floor space to bookshelves I don't need.

Eclectic Staircase by Palo Alto Architects & Designers Tali Hardonag Architect

So, I talked to the contractor about something like these, only with fronts that look like cupboard doors and are straight across at the top.  

Something about them doesn't seem right, though.  I'm worried that they'll make my OCD go off the charts if they don't fit perfectly and spaces are visible between them.  Somehow, I'm not entirely convinced that they will look like built-in cupboards.

I've mulled it over.  The contractor has mulled it over.  We haven't come up with a solid conclusion, and we're getting close to crunch time.  

Today, two things occurred to me.  One, that while I may take a time to make up my mind, I generally know when I've found what I want.  I don't feel like I have found it yet.  More importantly, it also occurred to me that I don't have to do anything right now.  I can have him frame that area with the idea that I'll be adding cupboards below down the road, but cover it with drywall for now.  Not all of the basement will be finished right away, so the stairs will be accessible from the other side for a while.

It's kind of a relief, actually, to have one less thing to worry about.